Cherry Ames 22 Rural Nurse by Helen Wells Page A

the wall caught her eye. Cherry had not noticed it before. It was embroidered in various, faded colors and was dated 1851. It read:
    If wisdom’s ways you truly seek, Five things observe with care: Of whom you speak, to whom you speak, And how and when and where.
    The warning on Mrs. Barker’s wall made Cherry uneasy as if a voice were cautioning her. But that was foolish…

    A CURIOUS EMERGENCY
    55
    The drive to the abandoned farm took them along the river road. They passed Riverside Park, passed the woods, and turned into the roadway of the old farm or what was left of the private road—it was so thick with weeds that Cherry slowed the car down to a crawl.
    She drove halfway to the rickety house, which was as close as she could get, parked, and they got out. Even with the sun shining, even with blue sky and blue river, this old place was depressing.
    “What a shambles!” Jane exclaimed. “Maybe Floyd is right. I wouldn’t know where to begin fi rst to make this place livable.”
    “Don’t let Floyd discourage you,” Cherry said.
    “Let’s explore, shall we?” Jane said. “I know it’s dangerous on crutches, but I must have a look.”
    “Well, at least let me go fi rst,” Cherry said.
    Cherry went ahead, picking her way, clearing a path as best she could for Jane. The farm grounds were larger than they looked to be from the highway. Half buried by the dense weeds, many other things were growing wild here—tall grasses, goldenrod, haw berries. Bees buzzed around a few gnarled fruit trees and shade trees. Birds swooped from tree to tree, and a bullfrog sang from some pond.
    “It’s kind of pretty here,” Jane said. “At least it’s an outdoors place for Bill to live.” Cherry scooped up a handful of earth. It was fragrant, rich black, moist, and fi rm to the touch. “This soil doesn’t look worn out to me,” Cherry said. “What a variety of things grow here! I recognize most of them. Do you?” 56 CHERRY
    AMES,
    RURAL
    NURSE
    “Not many. I’m a city girl,” Jane said. “Isn’t that Indian corn, growing wild?”
    As they slowly walked nearer to the house, they came to large patches of a leafy plant. Neither had ever seen this plant before. Growing untended, it had spread until it surrounded the house.
    “There certainly is a lot of it,” Jane said. “What is it?”
    “I wonder,” and Cherry stooped to take a closer look.
    “It looks like a sturdy woodland plant.” It grew close to the ground, springing up as tall as twenty inches. Its stalks were covered with several fi ve-leaf clusters and bright crimson berries. Cherry was curious enough to pull up a plant or two. The roots were about as thick as her little fi nger, three or four inches long, brittle, almost transparent—and, oddly enough, forked.
    “The roots look like little men,” Jane said. “See, here is the body, here are two arms, and here are two legs.”
    “You’re right,” Cherry said. “Think you can walk as far as the house? Your house.” She could, in her eagerness, with Cherry helping.
    Closer up, the house was really dilapidated. The girls could see that once it had been a comfortable farm home. It was small, with many windows, long and narrow and old fashioned now, but still inviting. They tried to visualize the house with repairs for windows and roof, and a fresh coat of paint.
    “White paint,” Jane said. “White with dark-green shutters and roof. Stop me from dreaming. Let’s go in.”

    A CURIOUS EMERGENCY
    57
    “Well, if it’s as unsafe as Floyd said, we’d better not.
    But we could at least stand in the main door and look in,” Cherry suggested.
    There was no front porch, just a stoop, though Jane vaguely remembered a big back porch facing the river.
    The house itself was pleasantly close to the river.
    Cherry and Jane stepped up into the front entrance door. The door was unlocked and swung open easily into a long hall.
    “Oh, there’s the staircase. I remember sliding down the banister!” Jane